I got a pair of pre-broken in lacrosse gloves from play-it-again sports just for the hell of it, I already owned a brand new pair but I like the used ones better. Hockey gloves don't have the thumb flexibility, therefore they suck for stick work.

I've thought about grabbing some baseball pads or even a pair of football pants for day to day sparring. I've seen some lacrosse chest gear that looks like it'd work well too.

Right now with school, work, family, BJJ 2x a week, and 1 FMA class a week I don't have much time to spar.

A local guy tracked me down via bullshido or FMAtalk (can't remember which) recently and came to our FMA class. He said he regularly gets up with a group of guys in town to train and spar. I'm not sure what to expect but the guy seemed cool enough so i'll probably get up and see about sparring over my winter break.

Free spar for a round or two, note the results, and then isolate a different tool. Always go back to isolation after noting the results of sparring.

Exactly!! In Latosa we remove an element for safety. You can limit the set of techniques you are using or even a zone so you don't have to free spar in redman suits. or, you can remove the sticks, and full contact spar using the stick methods empty hand, with just regular boxing/mma gear.

Also, in Latosa training 90% of the time there is ONLY you and the stick. You must be your own Armor!!! So it is good to have some vulnerability in Armored up contact sparring. In Tournaments for Latosa Escrima you are not allowed to have shoulder armor, neck protection yes, but the shoulder is wide open. This helps keep it real and prevents taking hits on the armor on the way in on purpose. They also wore paper makers on the torso to record hits, for a win. It also was single hit elimination. All of these factors make it more realistic.

Originally Posted by selfcritical

Have you guys tried any additional throat protection for doing sibat sparring? Those thrusts always seem to ride up the chest....

This is very important. You often have to make some kind of neck collar that goes under to the chin to protect the bottom of the jaw for solid helmets. Latosa people don't hit each-others heads using only fencing masks so I don't know about them.

"If anything is gained from this, it should be you both wanting to get better so you can make up for how crappy you are now." KidSpatula about the Sirc vs DTT Gong Sau Event

I used to have school in central Thailand and not much money so we just use lots of cloth wrapped around arms and legs and wore lots of sweatshirts and thick jackets. Was not allowed to strike head but sometimes happened. Sticks were bamboo and hurt even with padding but no one ever hurt bad.